Editing Wh-movement (section)

=== Superiority condition ===
The ''superiority condition'' determines which wh-phrase moves in a clause that contains multiple wh-phrases.<ref name=":02" /> This is the outcome of applying the ''Attract Closest'' principle, where only the closest candidate is eligible for movement to the attracting [[Head (linguistics)|head]] that selects for it.<ref name=":02" /> If the farther wh-phrase moves instead of the preceding wh-phrase, an ungrammatical structure is created (in English). Not all languages have instances of multiple wh-movement governed by the superiority condition, most have variations. There is no uniformity found across languages concerning the superiority condition.

For example, see the following English phrases:

: a. ['''Who'''<sub>i</sub> did you ask '''<s>who</s>'''<sub>ti</sub> to buy '''what'''?]
: b. *['''What'''<sub>i</sub> did you ask '''who''' to buy '''<s>what</s>'''<sub>ti</sub>?]

The subscript "ti" or "i" are used to mark coreference. "t" represents a [[Trace (linguistics)|trace]], while both "ti" and "i" represent that the words refer to each other and the same entity.

In a., the closer wh-phrase ['''who'''] moves up toward Spec-CP from being the subject of the VP ['''who''' to buy what]. The second wh-phrase ['''what'''] remains in-situ (as the direct object of the VP[who to buy what]). This is to satisfy the [+Q Wh] feature in the Spec-CP.

In b., the farther wh-phrase ['''what'''] has incorrectly moved from the direct object position of the VP[who to buy '''<s>what</s>'''] into the Spec-CP position while the closer wh-phrase to Spec-CP ['''who'''] has remained in-situ as the subject of the VP['''<s>who</s>''' to buy what]. Thus, this sentence contains a violation of ''Attract Closest'' and is therefore ungrammatical, as marked by the asterisk (*).